


Peter's Present

by FictionalWorldsAreExquisite



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Kid Peter Parker, POV Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, i cannot even begin to stress how fluffy this is, keeping in mind that he's a young lad here, there's kind of humor but it's the type of humor that's basically fluff, this might b one of the fluffiest things i've written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22097893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionalWorldsAreExquisite/pseuds/FictionalWorldsAreExquisite
Summary: Peter's out shopping with Pepper for his Dad's birthday present for the first time. He's never gotten his Dad a present before and he's very excited when he finds the perfect one! Pepper isn't so sure at first, but Peter is absolutely certain that he's found the perfect gift.
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 19
Kudos: 349
Collections: ellie marvel fics - read





	Peter's Present

**Author's Note:**

> i've never really wanted to write a tony is peter's bio dad fic bc I love chosen family more but it was the only way I could think of setting this up that worked so you know. here it is. I have a couple other stories with peter as a kid that i've kind of wanted to write but didn't know how to set up so maybe i'll put them in this universe, idk, it would work sooo.
> 
> it was kind of weird writing from Peter's perspective as a kid cause it's like, he's not going to be the same as his teenager self obviously but I still want it to be clearly Peter and also clearly a kid. I gave it my best shot. It isn't stated anywhere in the story but I was thinking peter's in the 5/6 years old area if you want to know. i have a cousin that's 6 and i kept going hm...would she do this...would she talk like this...sdjhkfsd i tried

Peter was walking around the store, holding Pepper’s hand as he stared hard at everything they were walking past. He had to find a present for his Dad since Pepper had told him that his Dad’s birthday was in one week.

One _whole_ week seemed like a long time to Peter but he wanted to get a good present for his Dad so he supposed going to the store now was a good idea. He’d never gotten his Dad a present before but Pepper had asked if he wanted to this year and he was very excited at the idea.

Pepper kept suggesting things as they walked through the aisles. She pointed out an item and got it off the shelf to show to Peter before explaining why his Dad might like it. Like the pack of pens, because his Dad sometimes liked working on actual paper and Pepper said they could also get him a notebook with it. He didn’t think it was very interesting though.

Or the mug with ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ on it because, well, obviously his Dad was the best in the world. Pepper didn’t have to explain that one. He liked the mug and told Pepper as much but he wanted to keep exploring the store first before he decided on anything.

He had to find the _best_ present for his Dad and that meant looking at everything in the shop, otherwise, he might get something that was...a little under the best. 

Pepper, thankfully, agreed and led them into the next aisle which just had cleaning products so she kept walking without stopping. Peter had heard her constantly telling his Dad to clean up his messes in the lab so he wasn’t sure why she’d decided these weren’t useful gifts but he kept quiet. Although, he did see a bright blue product he mentally tried to remember for later if they couldn’t find anything else. It looked cool and he bet it’d be useful.

They walked through a few more aisles without much luck before Peter spotted one filled with soft toys. Pepper had been about to walk _past_ it. He tugged at her hand to drag her down there instead.

“Pepper, look!” There weren’t as many toys as some of the other stores Peter’s Dad had taken him into but there were still at least ten, which was a lot.

Pepper let him drag her down there but once they stopped in front of the toys, she spoke up firmly, “Peter, remember we’re here to get your Dad a present, not you,” before she smiled down at him, lightening the mood, “it’s not your birthday yet after all.”

Peter _knew_ that. His birthday had already happened _ages_ ago, he’d had a lego cake for it. He thought his Dad was being silly because you couldn’t _eat_ lego but it was actually just cake that looked like lego. So cool.

“I know, for Daddy!”

Pepper hesitated slightly, “Peter, I’m not sure if your Dad would like a soft toy. Maybe that mug you saw before…?”

Peter decided not to listen and just kept digging through the toys he could reach. There were _definitely_ more than ten. There was a cool spider but his Dad always made Pepper get rid of those so he probably wouldn’t like it, a furry cat that was missing an eye which was super cool, a kangaroo (he saw one on TV a few weeks ago and his Dad had told him what it was), a bird with wings that flapped if he shook it hard enough and so many more.

Pepper was letting him look through all the toys thankfully, clearly she’d realised they were a good gift choice since he had to get his Dad the best.

It was when Peter came across one specific toy that he knew he had to get his Dad that one. None of the other things Pepper had recommended even came close to it.

“Pepper, this one!” He held it up.

Pepper looked down at the bear he was holding and started hesitantly again, “it’s a very nice bear, Peter, but don’t you think your Dad would love the mug more? You liked that mug.”

Peter shook his head firmly, “no. This bear looks like my bear.” It was just a bit darker.

Pepper hummed, “it does look like Bearjamin but why do you want to get one that’s the same, sweetie?”

Bearjamin was the name of Peter’s soft toy bear. It was his favourite toy and the first toy he’d ever been given. Originally it’d been called Beary but when he got older, he realised Bearjamin was a much better name and he’d asked his Dad if it’d be okay to change its name. His Dad had said he was sure Bearjamin wouldn’t mind and since his Dad was always right, he changed it. It was just like his middle name, but not quite!

“Well…” Peter started off slowly, fiddling with the bear in his hands, “Daddy says he has trouble sleeping sometimes _and_ he says that sometimes he’s just a bit sad. But Bearjamin always makes me feel happy _and_ he helps me sleep so maybe a bear just like him would help Daddy.”

Maybe it was stupid. It wasn’t the same bear after all. 

But Pepper softened and let out a breath before saying, “okay. But how about we get the mug as well?”

Peter’s eyes widened, “two presents?!”

\----

Wrapping presents was very, _very_ hard. Peter had insisted that he wanted to do it himself but the tape was very sticky and the bear was hard to wrap the paper around nicely. 

Pepper gently peeled a piece of tape stuck to his finger off and stuck on the wrapping paper for him. He frowned at it.

His Dad said that everyone needed help sometimes so he was letting Pepper help him after she’d asked very nicely and he was starting to feel very glad he did. This was too big a task for just him.

First, he’d put the mug on the paper very gently before placing the bear next to it. Very determined, he’d surrounded it with wrapping paper and a lot of tape. Like, a whole roll at least. It didn’t look good, it just looked like one big lump, but it was hidden! And that was the main thing, Peter was pretty sure.

“Pepper, Daddy needs to know to be careful with it.” Pepper had told him that he had to be very careful with the mug so it didn’t break but how would his Dad know to be careful if it was hidden?

Pepper nodded, “that’s true. How about you tell him before you give it to him?”

Peter pursed his lips in thought. Then he thought of the ‘fragile’ labels he’d seen on packages Pepper or his Dad had ordered. He told Pepper as much, stumbling over the word fragile but Pepper understood.

“How about I find a post-it note from my office and you can write fragile on it?” Pepper didn’t stumble on the word fragile, but she was _much_ older, adults were very good at speaking.

That sounded good to Peter and he agreed. He’d practised writing _all_ the letters at school now and they’d moved onto writing whole words. He wanted to show it off to his Dad. 

Pepper came back and passed the stack of sticky notes to Peter, “how about you write it on the table before pulling it off and sticking it on the present? It’ll be easier to write on it that way.”

That made sense, the present had _no_ flat surfaces after all. Peter wandered over to the table and pulled himself up onto a chair, sticky notes in front of him. He got up on his knees so he could see better. Pepper passed him a pen and he clicked it on before starting to write. Then he realised he didn’t know how the word was spelt.

He knew there was an F first which he carefully drew as neat as he could before looking at Pepper questioningly.

She pulled a chair over to sit next to him, understanding his question without words, “what letter do you think is next?”

Peter sounded the word out. “Is it an r?”

Pepper smiled at him proudly, “that’s right!”

He continued on spelling the rest of the word like that except Peter thought the g was a j, but Pepper just corrected him kindly. He got most of the word right all by himself though! His a and e were a little wonky but definitely some of his best work. Except the l and e were below the rest of the word because he ran out of space to write, but he drew an arrow so his Dad would understand.

Pepper went to grab the wrapped present when he was done and placed it in front of him. Peter slowly started pulling the top sticky note off that had his writing. He tested the stickiness underneath. It was awful, exactly like the tape that kept sticking to him before. But he placed it on the present anyway, right on top so his Dad couldn’t possibly miss it.

He grinned up at Pepper and she smiled back, “where are we going to hide it?”

Peter’s mouth dropped open. His Dad was _so_ good at finding things, whenever he lost something, his Dad normally found it within a few minutes. This was going to be very tricky. He had no idea.

Pepper started listening off places, “your wardrobe?” 

“No! Daddy helps me get my jacket off the hangers before I leave for school every day.”

“How about under your bed?”

Peter shook his head firmly, “Dad _always_ checks for monsters under there each night. And what if the monsters get it?”

“In your toybox?”

“No! It’s fr...fragile!” He stumbled but said the word properly this time!

Pepper hummed, “how about we hide it in my office then?”

“But Dad goes in there _all_ the time.” He always had to ask Pepper something, or drop off some paperwork, or get her help with things or just visit her.

“He does. But do you want to know a secret?”

Peter nodded wildly. Was that even a question?

Pepper leaned in closely and whispered in his ear, “I have a secret locked cupboard that even your Dad can’t get into.”

Peter gasped. That was perfect! “Yes! I mean, yes please, Pepper.”

Pepper smiled down at him, “what good manners! We better go hide it then.”

Peter walked carefully with the present (he didn’t want to accidentally bump into anything or trip over with it) to Pepper’s office while she went to grab something. With how slow Peter was moving, she ended up beating him to the door!

“Okay, Peter, follow me over here.” She walked around behind her desk and kneeled down to show Peter a small cupboard sitting under it. It was more of a box, really, but it would be just big enough for his present!

Pepper unlocked it with the key she’d gone and grabbed and Peter slid his present in there. Pepper locked it afterwards with a promise that she’d unlock it on his Dad’s birthday.

\----

It was _finally_ his Dad’s birthday and Peter was so excited to give him his present. He almost gave it to him early a couple of days ago because after a bad dream, he’d found his Dad already awake on the couch in the lounge and when Peter asked if he’d been having trouble sleeping again, his Dad said yes. That seemed like a good reason to give him his present early.

Except then his Dad had asked him about his bad dream and he’d forgotten all about it! But he was going to give it to him now, Pepper was just unlocking her cupboard. Peter was glad to see that his present had been untouched like Pepper had promised. 

He picked it up and carried it carefully towards where his Dad was waiting in the lounge. Pepper had made him promise to stay there while she led Peter out of his room and towards her office so his Dad wouldn’t suspect a thing. 

He crept up behind the couch his Dad was sitting on, coming around the side before screaming, “happy birthday, Dad!”

His Dad pretended to jump like he’d got a huge fright. He gasped loudly, “you scared me!”

Peter giggled happily, knowing he was just being silly, before thrusting out the present towards him.

His Dad took it, raising an eyebrow at him before turning to face Pepper who’d walked past them and sat in an armchair. “Well, Peter went shopping for you. Open it, Tony.”

His Dad smiled slowly, “oh, I don’t know. I haven’t even got my morning hug from my favourite present yet.”

Peter giggled again as his Dad put the present down and got up to stand in front of him, before squealing when his Dad picked him up and hugged him against his chest. “Down, Daddy, down!” He didn’t _actually_ mind though.

His Dad put on a confused face and turned to face Pepper, “did you hear something? I almost thought I heard something.”

Pepper shrugged innocently, joining in, “no, I don’t think I heard anything.”

Peter giggled and wiggled a hand free so he could wave it in front of his Dad’s face, “I’m right here!”

His Dad gasped, “oh! Hello, Peter. I almost didn’t see you there!” Then he started blowing raspberries on Peter’s face. 

Peter squealed again and started wriggling until his Dad finally put him down and let go of him. He wiped his face with his sleeve and screwed up his nose, “yucky, Dad! No!”

His Dad stuck out his bottom lip, “aw, but I just wanted to give you kisses! It’s my birthday, after all.” 

“Those were _raspberries_!” There was a huge difference!

His Dad considered this, “no. I’m pretty sure you ate the last of those yesterday.”

“Not that kind, Dad! The yucky kind.”

“Oh, of course. That clears it up.” His Dad turned and sat back down on the couch, patting the spot next to him so Peter climbed up warily, still fearing possible raspberry attacks. His Dad grabbed the present.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Fragile? Did you write this?”

Pepper coughed out a laugh from the other side of the room, “that’s not my handwriting, Tony.”

Peter glared at her. His handwriting was good too!

“Oh, of course. It’s much better.” His Dad winked at him.

Peter cheered and both the adults laughed at him.

“I suppose I’ll have to open this _super_ slowly so nothing breaks then.” His Dad started peeling the tape off one by one in slow motion. There was a _lot_ of tape for him to get through and Peter got impatient after about the second one.

“Not _that_ slow, Dad! That’s too slow.” Peter hit his head against the back of the couch dramatically and pouted.

His Dad laughed but started opening it faster anyway.

“Hmm...what do we have here? A World’s Greatest Dad mug?! Wow, Pete. In the _whole_ world? That’s pretty big.” He looked down at Peter.

Peter nodded gleefully, “obviously! You’re the best, Dad!”

“Even when I give you raspberries?” His Dad teased.

Peter thought about this seriously. “...only the nice ones, Daddy. Not the yucky ones.”

His Dad snorted and put it to the side before picking up the teddy bear. “And what’s this?” Peter watched as he looked across at Pepper questioningly.

“A bear for you, obviously.” It wasn’t camouflaged like that colour changing lizard he’d seen on TV before, it was quite obvious.

Pepper cleared her throat, “how about you tell your Dad why you decided to get it for him?”

“Oh. Well, it looks just like my bear! My bear helps me sleep and Bearjamin makes me _super_ happy! And sometimes you tell me you can’t sleep or you’re feeling a bit sad when I ask why you’re awake or if you’re okay so I thought this bear could help you like mine does! It’s a bit darker than mine, though.” Peter looked over at Pepper and she smiled at him.

“Peter told me he had to get you the best present and I think he might’ve found it all by himself,” Pepper added.

Peter looked back up at his Dad when he was pulled onto his lap, into a hug. “Do you like it?”

His Dad’s eyes were watering but he was smiling which was a bit confusing. He wasn’t sure if he’d gotten a bad gift or a good one, this was his first time getting someone a gift, after all. “I love it, buddy. Thank you. I’ll have to sleep with it tonight.”

Peter nodded and snuggled into his Dad, relaxing as his Dad started running his fingers through his hair. He decided he liked buying presents for him and he couldn’t wait until Christmas.

His Dad kissed the top of his head as Peter shut his eyes, comfortable.

\----

It didn’t matter how much time had passed, that was always Tony’s favourite gift. Even when Peter got older and was surprised that Tony kept it, there was never anything he received that was better. 

It didn’t solve his problems as Peter had hoped but when he crawled into bed that first night and looked over at the bear propped up against the other pillow, he relaxed, thinking of his son, and had one of the best nights of sleep he’d had in a long time. It had, indeed, made him stupidly happy at the very least.

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off me as a kid. i'm pretty sure the first time i ever got my mum a present, i got her a black soft toy cat. My dad, who was in the (2 dollar) shop with me was kind of like are you SURE you want to get her this? But I was like yeah, dad! I love soft toys and they make me super happy so I think mummy should have one too so she can be super happy! and he just caved lmao. She still has it though. And the couple other ones I gave her before I got a bit older and expanded my present range. i'm not a parent but it seems like they're soft for that shit sdfjhsdf.
> 
> i had fun writing this story. i felt like i was writing 'dad' as every second word lmao but I think it came out okay, i've never called my parents or thought of my parents as anything but mum and dad so...I stuck to Dad. and writing tony acting silly with his kid just sdjhfsdf. But it's all from Peter's POV so obviously it's exaggerated a little bc it's just what he notices. also i know it's vague in the story but tony/pepper can be a thing if you want or they can just b friends,, it's vague enough to be either and i didn't write it intending it to be either way so, your choice
> 
> tumblr is fictional-worlds-are-exquisite


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